


mishaps with mistletoe

by mothwrites



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Multi, artemis kisses everyone, cute holiday fun, yj secret santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-02
Updated: 2014-01-02
Packaged: 2018-01-07 04:52:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1115737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mothwrites/pseuds/mothwrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A secret santa gift for the lovely May, (tumblr: queencoulbys.) Hope you like it!</p>
            </blockquote>





	mishaps with mistletoe

“Zatanna, beautiful, light of my life, incredible human being-”

“Grayson, I am in the middle of Christmas shopping, but I can still _easily_ kick your ass. State your business.”

“And shorten the pleasure of your company?”

“ _Dick_.”

Zatanna tried not to let herself grin as she watched the new Robin, Tim Drake, paw anxiously at Dick’s sleeve. Around them, late Christmas shoppers heaved around shiny bags and grumbled, kids laughing and running to see Santa while the adults looked ready to drop. Tim and Dick were standing outside the entrance to the movie theatre, looking cool and collected and every bit the ‘Wayne boys’.

“Hi, Timmy.” He almost blushed. God, the new kid was adorable.

“Hello, Zatanna. Dick _dragged_ me to see Frozen.”

 _That_ wiped the smile off Dick’s face. “We’ve had a _lovely_ family outing. Right, Timmy?”

A sigh. “Right. Of course.”

“M’gann’s dragged me to see it _twice_ ,” Zatanna stage-whispered to him, ignoring Dick’s smug chuckle. “Once with Arty, one with just us. And God knows how many times she’s gone to see it on her own. Well, I say on her own. Poor Conner.”

“Is that why you’re here now?” Dick interjected.

She shook her head. “I’ve got a few more presents left to get, then I’m done.”

“Leaving it a bit late, aren’t you? The party's only in a few hours. Shopping for anyone special?”

“Couldn’t be helped. The world doesn’t save itself, you know,” she replied with a cheeky grin. It was hard not to flirt around Dick- if you didn’t flirt back, it felt like kicking a puppy. “And depends on what you mean by _special_. Stop trying to find out who my Secret Santa is.”

“I wouldn't dare! Well, hurry up. I’ve had a _fantastic_ idea that I need your help with. Tim, you wanna go wait at the car?”

“If you think I’m going to wait over there and let you _corrupt_ Zatanna-”

“ _Tim_.” Zatanna, fixed by Tim’s serious blue eyes, again had to restrain the urge to laugh.

“Don’t let him do it, Zatanna. I’m begging you. For the good of us all.”

“Tim, Timmy Tim Tim, _Timbo_ -”

“Yes, I’m _going_. I still think you’re mad.” Tim deigned to be squeezed tightly around the shoulders, pink with embarrassment, before practically flying off. Dick took a moment to stare fondly after his newest baby brother, before turning back to Zatanna.

“So, Zee.”

“I’m all ears. Impress me.”

*

“Babe!” Wally’s voice rang out from the end of the hall. Artemis, having just escaped from the make-up frenzy of her old room in the cave, looked around to see her boyfriend, ambling towards her with a grin that was clearly trying to conceal a laugh. “You’re looking, uh, festive.”

“Festive’s right,” she grumbled, trying to resist the urge to rip the fake reindeer antlers clean off her head. “M’gann wouldn’t let me go until I’d put _something_ on- it was this or pink fairy wings.” She’d taken pride in her appearance that night: curled her hair at the ends, put on a little bit of eyeliner; nothing too flashy, but she knew she looked good. Until the Christmas police had descended. “She’s _terrifying_ at Christmas. I’d forgotten. And where’s _your_ decoration?”

He laughed, and dug around in his pocket. “Hang on, beautiful, I’ve got just the thing.” His fingers grasped something, and emerged with something red, round, and offensively shiny.

“That’s not-”

“Oh, it _is_.” With another warm laugh, he strapped the thing onto his nose and looked up proudly; her very own Rudolph. “We match!”

“She planned this. The Christmas _devil_.”

“ _Fairy._ Don’t rain on M’gann’s parade. She just.. really loves Christmas. Don’t most girls? I thought it was a chick thing.”

“Ugh. Never say ‘chick’ again.”

“Sorry, babe. Ooh, _look_ -”

“What?” Her eyes flicked up, and immediately saw it. She almost shivered. _Mistletoe_. Where the hell had that come from? “Are you kidding me? Is M’gann doing magical mistletoe, now?”

“I don’t think this is our adorable green friend. I’d point the finger at our friend who wears top hats and fishnets, and likes to tease people. Cause, you know. M’gann isn’t magic. Or cruel. Ew, imagine if it wasn’t us?” His face took on a grotesque, comical expression. “What if you got stuck under the mistletoe with, like- Batman!”

“Ugh! Thanks for the nightmares, Wall-man. Come kiss me already, it’s Christmas.”

“Am I only allowed to kiss you at Christmas, now?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said, looping her arms around his neck. “I’m just more prepared to indulge you during the holiday season.” She closed her eyes, and before she knew it, she’d been butted in the face with something cold, and smooth. Squinting, she saw Wally turn almost as red as the offending reindeer nose. “Sorry, babe.”

“Oh, I think you can make it up to me.” He leaned in again; their lips met; she sighed, more contented at Christmas than she’d ever been at holidays previous. Wally’s lips were soft, and insistent, and she moved in closer, drinking in his warmth and the love he just simply radiated. It was a good time to be a couple. Mistletoe didn’t seem quite so scary when a cute ginger boy was standing underneath it.

“Mmm- Arty?” Almost annoyed at the interruption, she bit his lip gently. _Almost_ gently.

“What?”

“I thought I felt- nah, don’t worry,” he murmured into her skin, her collarbone. She was about to ask how much time they had before anyone would miss them, when a curious, tingling sensation started, seemingly coming from the floor around her feet. Wally had stopped kissing her. Her eyes opened. She stepped backwards, and found nothing at all. The corridor- was it even still there?- was pitch black, and before she could say a word, Artemis found herself falling.

*

Artemis stopped, blinked, looked around. This wasn’t what she had been expecting when, of all things, she kissed Wally under the mistletoe and a damn _portal_ appeared. Death, destruction, and aliens, maybe- but not the _mall_. It was December 23rd when she left, and judging by the amount of frenzied shoppers milling around her, it still was. Which meant, what, a teleport? Either way, she had to move, or be trampled. She dove into the first shop she could get to- “The Sweetie Palace”, and remembered how to breathe. Teleporting, if that was what it was, was a nasty business. She felt dizzy. “Get it together, Artemis,” she growled under her breath. “You can handle a little Christmas shopping.”

“That’s the spirit, dear”. Turning around, she just caught a glimpse of a smiling old lady passing her, before she dove into the sale box. Artemis resisted the urge to laugh. _Consumers._

“Artemis?” She looked up to see M’gann, of all people, laden down with shopping bags and staring at her with an expression that looked a little concerned, but mostly- no, _definitely_ \- unimpressed. “What are you doing here?”

“Uh.” This wasn’t her M’gann. Her M’gann was back at the cave, forcing reindeer antlers onto unsuspecting young heroes. “Christmas shopping?”

“You were supposed to stay away from the mall today!”

“Yes. Right. Sorry. I just.. wanted to check on you?” M’gann’s face softened, and her lips stopped pouting and smiled instead.

“You can be so sweet sometimes, Arty.” Artemis almost sighed in relief. “I’ll go back in a sec. Who are you buying for, anyway?”

“It’s a surprise!” She giggled. “Don’t look, okay? I need to sort out my bags.”

“I won’t, I won’t.” This M’gann didn’t seem so different to hers- both were chock-full of the Christmas spirit she found both endearing and terrifying. She looked up to avoid seeing M’gann’s bags, and her eyes found the same pernicious parasite that had just ambushed her and Wally moments before. “Hey, M’gann, look. Mistletoe.”

“Huh? Oh!” M’gann dropped all her bags with an almost unsettling grin, and before Artemis knew it, a nose had bumped her own and soft lips were pressed to hers, in a quick, sweet kiss. When she opened her eyes, it was dark again, and M’gann had gone.  _Interesting,_ she thought, as she was whirled away once more.

 

*

A split second passed. Artemis re-adjusted her senses, blinked once, twice, three times, and saw that she was in the back room of Dinah’s flower shop.

“ _Huh_.”

She hadn’t been there often. Once, maybe twice.. she remembered babysitting Lian for a few hours, and then going to the florists to pass her on to her adoring sort-of-grandmother, when both Roy and Jade had to go away for a few days. It looked how she remembered: a little cluttered, with books and flowers strewn over every surface, and a yellow back-door. It opened, and Roy himself walked in, carrying a sheath of white lilies. He stopped short when he saw her.

“Artemis. What’s up?”

“Are you wearing an _apron_?”

“Nice to see you too. And shut up, I’m just helping Dinah out for a few hours and I don’t want pollen or whatever all over me. What do you want?”

“Um.” Her mind was completely blank, until out of the corner of her eye she saw a table covered in green leaves and white berries. _Bingo._ Time to test out her theory. “Mistletoe. M’gann sent me to get mistletoe- you know how she is with Christmas, everything’s got to be _just right_.”

“Right. Don’t remind me.” With deft hands, he sliced off a sizeable bough and threw it neatly to her. “That all?”

“Yeah, how much?”

“Nothing,” he shrugged. “We’ve got more than we can sell. This isn’t even all of it, there’s at least two more crates out back.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, call it a family discount.”

“You’re the best,” she grinned, and broke off a twig, holding it up above her head. “Don’t I get a kiss from my brother-in-law?”

“You serious?”

“Yeah,” she laughed, a tad nervously. “What can I say? I’ve been infected with Christmas spirit.”

“Let’s hope it’s not catching. Oh, go on then.” He bent down, and respectfully brushed his lips against hers. She almost had to go on her tiptoes to catch it. _Not bad_ , she thought, absent-minded, as the world span and went dark again. _Good choice, Jade_.

*

She caught Jaime with Kon, blushing furiously, at the back of the cave, and kissed them both for good measure. Sphere chirped happily in the background as she left, laughing fit to burst at their expressions. Tim went even pinker, and kissed her cheek after she crept up behind him at the computer station. Cassie laughed, gave her a smacker on the lips, and one on the nose too. The rest were blurred, as she started to feel dizzy from the constant hopping between worlds-portals-timezones? The last kiss she remembered was Kaldur, (on the forehead,) before she jumped again and found herself in Dick Grayson’s arms.

“ _There you are_.” She was pretty sure he was the last person she needed to ambush with mistletoe, unless her bizarre Christmas nightmare included all their mentors as well. “Look, don’t say anything stupid, I just need to kiss you.”

“Wait, wait!” He put out his hands, defensively, and his eyes crinkled up with laughter. “I’m just here to take you home. Zatanna messed up a spell while we were modifying mistletoe for... well, a _slightly_ less nefarious purpose than this.”

“ _You two did this_?”

Dick at least had the decency to look a little sheepish. “We’re really sorry, Arty. But hey, it can’t have been that bad, right?”

Artemis glared at him, but then thought back to the way Tim smiled as she left him, and Kaldur’s warm arms as they hugged, and M’gann’s pretty laugh.

“... I’ve had _worse_ days.”

“Personally, I’m jealous. So, do I get a kiss too, or are you still angry with me?”

“I am _always_ angry with you, Grayson. Come here.” She pulled him down by his stupid hoodie strings, and kissed him. They were still kissing when they arrived back in the light, warm air of the cave, and broke away when they heard Wally’s comical yelp of indignation.

“And what about _me_?” Her boyfriend pouted, hands on his hips. Artemis was about to move, when-

“Whoops, sorry.” Dick turned around, and pulled Wally in for a kiss too, laughing just as much as his best friend was. “Now, can we actually start this thing?”

Artemis got her breath back, grinned at her boyfriend, and then looked at the friends and family scattered around her, some in reindeer antlers, some in Santa hats, all smiling at her. She felt warm, and loved, like no Christmas had ever made her feel before.

“Yeah. Merry Christmas, everyone.”


End file.
